School-leaver and first-year scholarships

If you are a new student here at the University of Auckland, you may be eligible for a scholarship - regardless of your background or where you live.

It’s an exciting time! You’re finishing school this year or next, looking ahead and thinking about where to from here. Or you may be enrolled in a university preparation programme, eager to take the next step.

If university study is a possibility, did you know that you could be eligible for a scholarship? This can help you financially, while you adjust to a whole new exciting phase in your life.

The University of Auckland offers several hundred scholarships every year to new students embarking on undergraduate study. These scholarships can support you to achieve amazing things in your work and communities.

As well as the scholarships funded centrally by the University, individual faculties and generous donors also provide a wide range of scholarships for new undergraduate students.

Living the student experience

Guaranteed accommodation in a hall of residence will be offered to students who are awarded one of our new scholarships — even if you currently live in Auckland. This is an awesome benefit, as it means you can afford to live in the central city, in a safe location, with student services on hand and the opportunity to build lasting friendships and develop your interests with like-minded students.

What’s more, living in University accommodation provides an environment that is conducive to your continued academic achievement, which is why if you’d like to continue living in University accommodation beyond your first year, we will also guarantee that for you.

Academic achievement

Academic achievement is a critical factor in these scholarships, and we have minimum rank scores in place for each of them to help you determine if you are eligible to apply. Please read the details of the scholarship you are interested in to find out more, because each is different.

Just as we have done in the past, the University will continue to base its school-leaver scholarship decisions on academic achievement in Year 12, before Year 13 results are available. So your grades in Year 12 are a very important factor when we consider you and other applicants. If you’re an IB student, we will ask your school for your predicted grade.

If you are a university student on a pathway programme that leads to entry to an undergraduate degree, your results in the first semester will be used to assess you for a University of Auckland Academic Potential Scholarship.

Your continued academic success is important to us, so if you are awarded a University of Auckland scholarship, you will be required to maintain a specified grade point average.

If you're thinking of applying

These scholarships are valuable and there is a lot of competition for them. This means we receive many more applications for scholarships than we are able to award. So simply being in the position where you are thinking of applying signals to us that you’re a great student with a bright future ahead of you.

If you think you’ve got what it takes to go on to win one of these prestigious awards, we’d love you to apply.

As well as your academic prowess, we will also consider your achievements in other areas and take into account your personal circumstances as well, so you can be sure that it’s a level playing field for students across New Zealand.

It’s extremely important that the information you provide in your application is true and accurate, and we will ask your school and other referees to check it.